General
Trivia about the Harry Palmer movies
General
Michael Caine had originally signed a
five-picture-deal (7 years). After Billion Dollar Brain he didn't
want to return anymore as Harry Palmer. Harry Saltzman, the
producer, had already let Caine out of the contract.
The next film after Billion Dollar Brain
should have been 'Horse Under Water'.
Christopher Plummer was originally
considered for the lead role in The Ipcress File but dropped out
to star in The Sound of Music(1965) (IMDB)
Palmer is the first action hero to wear
glasses (Caine is myopic in real life). (IMDB)
Though Harry Palmer has become one of the
most famous of fictional secret agents, his creator, Len
Deighton, didn't name him when he wrote his spy novel, The
Ipcress File. "The problem with it was that he wrote it in
the first person so Harry had no name…" recalls Caine.
So Ipcress File producer Harry Saltzman, who also co-produced the
James Bond films at the time, and Caine set out to find an
innocuous name for their bureaucratically battered secret agent.
"I made a rather bad social blunder, 
because he said, 'What's the dullest name
you can think of?' And I said, 'Harry.' And he said, 'Thanks very
much.' And then he said 'What's a dull surname?' And…the
most boring boy in our school was called Palmer, Tommy Palmer. So
he said, 'All right, we'll call him Harry Palmer." (From an
article by Len P. Feldman - read the whole interview click here )
Mike Myers, the actor and creator of Austin
Powers, thought of Harry Palmer when he gave Austin his
glasses.(see pic)
The story about Harry's glasses
/ frames
First of all: they were dark brown in colour - contrary to the widely held view that they were black.
There are two versions of the story about the origin of the glasses:
A ) Some say this is the origin:They are a style called "Teviot 74" manufactured by a company called 'UK Optical'. These were an absolutely basic,standard model issued free of charge on the National Health Service in Britain at that time. Apparently they weren't issued free on the NHS but became popular at the time for being a stylish though inexpensive alternative to those issued free and were easily fitted with NHS lenses.That UK Optical range have been described by some as the first affordable 'designer' frames available in the UK.
B ) But according to a
film auction seller in England this was the origin:
A pair of spectacles by Curry & Paxton,
Ltd of London, with prescription lenses and
imitation tortoiseshell frames, one arm marked inside YVAN --
supplied to Michael Caine as Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File,
1965; Funeral In Berlin, 1966; and Billion Dollar Brain, 1967;
with original card box labelled inside CURRY & PAXTON, LTD.,
Dispensing Opticians...London, the lid of the box inscribed
variously in ballpoint pen Michael Caines glasses "IPCRESS
FILE" "FINALE [sic] IN BERLIN", Alice, General
office Ross's, 2 Pairs Glasses M.. [remainder of inscription
indistinct] and MICHAEL CAINE'S GLASSES; accompanied by two black
and white stills, one from Funeral In Berlin, the other from
Billion Dollar Brain, both -- 8x0in. (20.3x25.4cm.) (4) (see
photo above)
The vendor, who was the production accountant on Billion Dollar
Brain, purchased these glasses post-production and recalls that
they were kept in the safe of the Pinewood Prop Stores. Although
more than one pair of glasses may have been supplied for the
films, the fact that they were kept in the prop store safe
indicates that they were those worn by Michael Caine, and the
numerous inscriptions on the box indicates useage in all three
films.
(Thanks to
Mark Isaacs)
It's interesting to note that author Len
Deighton wore an identical pair at this time (refer to the
classic on set photo of him and Caine in Harry's kitchen
preparing for the "egg cracking" shot" see this photo here).These glasses have been long out of
production and the nearest modern equivalent available today is a
style called "Grant" by 'Oliver Peoples'. (Thanks to Mark Isaacs)
Harry's three-quarter length raincoat has
long been a style icon in Britain. Harry wears a different
raincoat in each of the three films. The "Ipcress" one
is of a check (or plaid) similar to a style referred to as
'Prince of Wales'. The "Funeral in Berlin" and
"Billion Dollar Brain" ones are very similar in style
but appear to be of a slightly different shade of beige to one
another. A London based vintage clothing expert is sure that the
coats came from top British outfitters "Aquascutum".
The "FIB" one was definately from
"Aquascutum". (Thanks
to Mark Isaacs)
Bob Engesser added this on the
messageboard, interesting enough to add here: "I recall a
press release from the late 1960s stating that Harry Saltzman
would produce Horse Under Water with Nigel Davenport and not
Michael Caine as Harry Palmer. Poor box office from Billion
Dollar Brain the movie and not poor sales from Horse Underwater
the book probably killed this project. Davenport costarred with
Caine in the underrated war film Play Dirty which was produced by
Saltzman."
For a collection of deleted scenes:
click here
Harry Palmer style
is still hot, check out these articles! Click here (Thanks to Andrew Stanhope)
new
The Ipcress File
Three pairs of glasses were used by
Michael Caine during The Ipcress File. When all of these were
broken during filming, production was held up for a day, until
replacements had been found. After that, the prop department was
stocked with 20 extra pair of the Harry Palmer model glasses.
Two large Victorian terrace houses, at 28
and 30 Grosvenor Gardens, London (almost adjoining Victoria
Station in London, see also Filmlocations), were used as filmstudios for The Ipcress File.
The two houses were converted into one huge house containing 40
rooms. These were enlarged or divided according to requirements.
Fourteen room were used as studios. Other rooms were turned into
dressing rooms, wardrobe department, hairdressing, make-up,
production offices, a property department and a self-contained
restaurant capable of feeding and seating 120 people! This all
was kept secret to keep away sight-seers and autograph hunters.
Even Michael Caine was driven to work in an inconspicuous car and
had to sneak in the back way. As a 'front' for the real purpose,
a large sign was painted at the entrance to the film studios. The
sign read:" The Dalby Employment agency".
Sidney J. Furie
(director The Ipcress File) was fired directly after shooting The
Ipcress File. He and Harry Saltzman (producer) had fierce
arguments about what the film should look like. Harry Saltzman
couldn't come to terms with the 'strange camera angles' Sidney J.
Furie used in the film. Peter Hunt had to do the editing without
the director.
On the first day of
shooting The Ipcress File (at Pinewood Studios, London) Sidney J.
Furie, director, gathered the cast and set fire to the script.
"That's what I think of it", he said in front of a
stunned audience. Later, the cast was asked to write their own
dialogue !
Len Deighton, author of
the Harry Palmer books (although the name Harry Palmer is never
mentioned in the books), is also a very good good cook. Besides
writing novels Len also had a cookery comic strip in The
Observer. These cookery strips can be seen in The Ipcress File.
The walls of the kitchen of Harry Palmer are full of these
strips.
In The Ipcress File
Harry Palmer makes an omelette and breaks two eggs at the same
time, with one hand ! Michael Caine couldn't perform this trick.
The hands you see, breaking the eggs simultaneously, are Len
Deighton's (who was an experienced cook) ! You can see the
difference by watching the hands. Michael Caine has blond hairs
on his hands and Len Deighton has black hairs, which are seen
during a this shot.
Have a
look a this promotional contest, especially made for newspapers:
In a
1995 interview Caine told Deighton that wearing glasses in
"The Ipcress File"(against the express wishes of Harry
Saltzman) meant that he could see clearly on set for the first
time in his career. Interestingly though, in a 1967 interview
Caine explains that Harry's glasses are made of ordinary glass as
real lenses reflect the studio lights too much!! You can
certainly notice quite a bit of light reflecting on Harry's
glasses in "Ipcress", particularly in Harry's office
scenes with Ross and Dalby. (Thanks to Mark Isaacs)
Harry Palmer makes
coffee in a special coffee pot in the beginning of the movie.
Charles Kasher, executive producer, had a special deal with the
manufacturers to promote the thing. See below for the very
rare promotional still.
Joan Collins (she
became famous in Dynasty) had been considered for the role of
Jean.
In the scene in
the parking garage where the money is counted by one of Bluejays'
men, you can see the money counted very fast. The filmmakers
hired a professional bankteller to do this scene.
Sidney J. Furie
used large quantities of Scotch in his coffee whilst making the
film. He said that "a lot of scenes have benefitted from
it...".
When The Ipcress
File was shown at the famous filmfestival in Cannes, Sidney J.
Furie was banned from the festival by Harry Saltzman.
18 year old Rita
Davies, a girl from London, wanted Michael Caine's autograph and
asked for it during the filming at Grosvenor Gardens. Instead she
was offered a screentest for a role as secretary. She was only
interested in the autograph and she turned down the offer.
Cartoon from a
newspaper.(thanks to Mark
Isaacs)
Michael Caine (as
Harry Palmer, reluctant spy) plays with a Minox B that he's
handed by his old British Military Intelligence boss, who asks
him to microfilm the Ipcress file behind his new boss's back.
Notice Caine's finger is planted neatly in front of the lens.
Charlie Trentleman says there's no scene like this in the
original book. (Found on site
made by Marcus Brooks)
Funeral in Berlin
Eva Renzi was not scheduled to play in
Funeral In Berlin. The part of Samantha Steel had been assigned
to Anjanette Comer, but due to illness she couldn't continue.
Some scenes have been shot apparently with Anjanette. See these
very rare publicity stills.
new
Russian soldiers on the east side of the
Berlin wall "flashed" the camera's with the sunlight
using mirrors, while the crew was shooting Funeral in Berlin. The
scene where Harry Palmer walks to Checkpoint Charlie (the
longshot) for the first time had to be taken from a big distance
for that reason.
Special
art for papers:
This was on the messageboard, interesting
enough to add here: Paramount messed up on their "Funeral In
Berlin" DVD release by using a "textless" print of
the film's trailer. Much of the trailer deals with the
superimposed names of the actors and title, as well as an
epilogue of text that fills the remaining thirty seconds or so.
You'll see the difference in the Spyguise video that features
"Berlin's" trailer, as well as a secondary review
trailer. Paramount has shown a considerable lack of care, just
like those MGM Bond DVDs that don't feature the necessary
subtitles. (Thanks to Alan
Spencer)
Morten Sagen added this on the
messageboard: I recently watched Funeral in Berlin on Norwegian
TV2. I noticed that the title sequence was different from my
American edition VHS. On the American version the actual
lettering is white, while the ones on TV where black with narrow
white borders around each letter. It was also in widescreen.
Anyone out there who knows why they made two versions?
Special envelope to promote the bookversion
of Funeral in Berlin:
Promotional matches, handed out on
airplanes, see right 
Billion Dollar Brain
Stanley Caine, Michael's kid brother,
made his screen debut in Billion Dollar Brain (although he had
appeared on British television) as the G.P.O. delivery boy.
Ken Russell was contractually obligated to direct
Billion Dollar Brain. He didn't like to do it, but 'it was shoved
down his throat'.
Francoise Dorleac, Anya in Billion Dollar
Brain, died in a road accident in the same year that Billion
Dollar Brain was released. Director Russell called her a classic
screen beauty "like Marlene Dietrich".
Michael Caine performed most of his own
stunts. During the final ice floe scene in Billion Dollar Brain,
he almost slipped and fell into freezing water.(IMDB)
Len Deighton
received $ 250,000 for the filmrights of Billion Dollar Brain.
Harry Saltzman, the producer, wanted to pay $ 100,000, and was
very angry about Deighton's price. He slammed down the receiver
when he heard Len Deighton's demands. Eventually Saltzman called
back to say he agreed. Len Deighton's comment:" I like the
sound of 'quarter million'...".
A special tie-in
ad for Billion Dollar Brain (see pic)
When Palmer comes out of the woods and
catches the Latvian train, "VR" can be seen on the
sides of the cars. VR stands for State Railways in Finnish and is
an obvious sign that the scene was filmed in Finland. (Thanks to Toni from Finland)
31 seconds of the original movie are
missing on the official MGM release of 2004. The licensing rights
of the Beatles song "A hard day's night" (which can be
heard in the scene where Harry meets Basil) were said to be too
expensive so they cut the whole scene...
Andrew S. added: "Actually The Beatles themselves (or more accurately Apple Records) who actually made the use of that song in the film too expensive. Apple (The Beatles company) still owns the rights to their recordings, while Michael Jackson owns the publishing rights. So if you wanted to use a recording of The Beatles, you would have to get their permission (and of course Michael Jackson would get a slice of the money). However if you just wanted to use a Beatles song but have somebody else record it, then you would only need to get permission from Michael Jackson's company. This is what happened in that Sean Penn film "I Am Sam". The producers wanted to use actual Beatle recordings, and I believe that Ringo, Paul and Yoko had all agreed, but they were waiting on George's agreement. But at the time he was very ill with cancer so they never actually got his go-ahead. So as a result, they couldn't use Beatle recordings so they just licenced a number of Beatle songs and got other people to record them.
Julien Comelli from France reports: the
French version of Billion Dollar Brain contains a very little
segment who is not in the original French exploitation copy: the
last word of Harry Palmer (200£ is allright..), who has been,
for the dvd, dubbed today by another actor.
See below: promotional slide for Billion
Dollar Brain, probably used as advertisement before other movies.
Director Ken Russell has
recently started writing a weekly article for the (London) Times
newspaper in which he recalls his life in the movie business.
This week the theme was his many battles with the British Board
of Film Censors. About ‘Billion Dollar Brain’ he
writes:
“With my next movie it was the camera operator who put me in
jeopardy. There was a rough-and-tumble between the hero Michael
Caine and the beautiful spy Francoise Dorleac. I couldn’t
use stunt doubles as a lot of the fight was in close-up. Neither
could Caine really lay into his leading lady, so it was the
camera that did the roughing up, with the operator hand-holding
it at all angles as he followed the sparring couple all over the
bedroom. This the censor found too violent by proxy, and the
scene was cut heavily.” (Thanks to Mark Isaacs)
Bullet to Beijing
Sue Lloyd returns in her role as Jean after 30 years
in Bullet to Beijing (1995). She had played this role in The
Ipcress File as well. In Bullet To Beijing Harry Palmer refers to
the good old days and they have a nice little rendez-vous. This
last scene is NOT in the shorter version of Bullet To Beijing.
(see pic)
In Bullet To Beijing there is nice scene
in the train to Beijing where Nicolai (Jason Connery) tells about
the profession of his father. He tells his father worked for
British Intelligence... As Jason's real father, Sean Connery,
became famous as James Bond 007, this must have been some sort of
incrowd joke ??!?
Mia Sara, leading lady
(Natasha) in Bullet To Beijing, is married in real life to Jason
Connery, her co-star in the movie. They live with their baby in the Borders of
Scotland.
Bullet to Beijing was released under the
name "Beijing Express" in French Canada.
While shooting in Moscow and St.Petersburg,
crew members were repeatedly targeted by logal thugs and Michael
Caine received death threats from Russian ganglords.
Midnight in St.Petersburg
Insiders say that Midnight in St.
Petersburg was made almost entirely from out-takes on the cheap
and completed in 6 weeks.
Tanya Jackson, Tatania in the movie, is the
wife of the director (...) of Midnight in St.Petersburg, Doug
Jackson.